The desirability of many consumable compositions, especially in low fat or so-called "flight" compositions, by the consumer depends, not only on taste, but also on mouthfeel. While the gustatory or taste notes of the compositions may be, more or less, adequately compensated for, the difficulty in reconstituting or reproducing the feeling of the creamy-type consistency or texture which are precisely imparted by fats within the compositions, still remains to be a problem.
It is known that fat is comprised of a mixture of glycerol esters and that the removal of fat from various consumable compositions can adversely affect the organoleptic characteristics of the compositions. As disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 5,092,964, issued Mar. 3, 1992, to Conte, Jr., et al., the presence of some mono- and diglycerides in butter fat and the unique triglyceride composition make important contributions to the mouthfeel of butter. Alteration of the concentration of these components in butter fat and the relative proportions thereof yields unacceptable mouthfeel. For example, while the development of low calorie triglycerides for foods having reduced fat content, wherein the triglycerides are tailored to consist of a particular combination of saturated medium chain, saturated long chain, and unsaturated long chain fatty acid residues, such as those disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 4,832,975, issued May 23, 1989, to Yang, and triglycerides comprising both long, saturated fatty acid residues and short, carboxylic acid residues, such as those disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 5,552,174, issued Sep. 3, 1996, to Wheeler, et al., may provide some reduction in fat and/or calories, they are still less desirable than conventional compositions.
Other attempts to provide low fat/calorie compositions have shown similar results. For example, U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,199,608, issued Apr. 22, 1980, to Gilmore, et al., and 4,284,655, issued Aug. 18, 1981, to Miller, et al., which disclose replacing fat with a partial glycerol ester composition, comprising a mixture of mono-, di-, and triglycerides, in whippable toppings and/or comestible spreads; U.S. Pat. No. 4,414,229, issued Nov. 8, 1983, to Bakal, et al., which discloses adding cellulose fibers to butter substitute spreads; and PCT Application No. WO 9,534,222, published Dec. 21, 1995, to Benzi, et al., which discloses adding the diglyceride fraction of an animal or vegetable fat hydrolysate to the flavoring ingredient of low-fat foods.
Conjugated polyunsaturated fatty acids have been known for some time and each of the different acids possess different characteristics and functional properties. For example, conjugated linoleic acid is known to possess anti-oxidation and browning-prevention properties when added to food/food products, as disclosed by Koizumi, et al., Japanese Kokai Patent Application No. HEI 6-276939, published Oct. 4, 1994; inhibit mold growth, as disclosed by Pariza, et al., U.S. Pat. Nos. 5,017,614, issued May 21, 1991, and 5,208,356, issued May 4, 1993; and increase the efficiency of feed conversion in an animal into body weight by increasing the ratio of lean to fat body mass, as disclosed by Cook, et al., U.S. Pat. No. 5,428,072, which issued Jun. 27, 1995. It has not been known until the present invention, however, that specific acylglycerol compounds comprising conjugated polyunsaturated acids having from 16 to 22 carbons, including conjugated linoleic acid in particular, when added to various oral compositions, including conventional, reduced fat/calorie, low fat/calorie, and no fat/calorie foods and/or beverages/drinks, dental compositions, over-the-counter and/or prescription pharmaceuticals, and nutraceuticals, which when delivered in the mouth, provide enhanced organoleptic characteristics of fattiness, creaminess, soothing, satisfaction, and full mouthfeel. Therefore, the compositions and methods of the present invention are novel.
As a result of the above described discoveries, the present invention provides at least four distinct advantages over compounds disclosed in the prior art. First, the precise acylglycerol compounds of the present invention can be obtained at high purity either by de novo synthesis or purification from natural sources; second, the compounds of the present invention can be used at levels much lower than would be required of other compounds to obtain similar attributes, and therefore provides oral compositions containing less overall fat content than those compositions comprising butterfat, glycerol esters, or fat hydrolysates; third, formulations containing the preferred identified compounds provide a method for delivering the health benefits associated with conjugated linoleic acid; and fourth, these compounds augment the oxidative stability of the compositions in which they are incorporated.
Therefore, it is an object of the present invention to disclose oral compositions having enhanced mouthfeel comprising specific acylglycerol compounds comprising conjugated polyunsaturated fatty acid residues.
It is a further object of the present invention to disclose a method for enhancing the mouthfeel of oral compositions by the addition, to said compositions, of specific acylglycerol compounds comprising conjugated polyunsaturated fatty acid residues.